Another go-to chicken breast recipe
The temptation to only share exciting, flashy recipes is real. Give me all the shiny glazes, creamy sauces and crunchy crumbs! But the truth is, I make simple back-pocket essentials a gazillion times more. We’re talking boiled eggs. Rice. Salad dressing. Poached chicken.
So today, I’m sharing a recipe that probably won’t get you running to the shops with excitement. But that’s the point! It’s a recipe to make with chicken breast right now that uses pantry staples but is not boring (<- this is important!).
- Chicken breast – Yup, that cut of chicken that ends up in my trolley week after week despite publicly favouring thighs for flavour!
- Pantry spices – The ever reliable combination of paprika, onion, garlic, cumin powder plus salt and pepper. This is a lovely savoury blend with country vibes that gives the chicken a warm reddish tinge from the paprika and layers of flavour. Here are some substitution options:– Paprika: I use regular, but feel free to use smoky or spicy (if you can handle the heat!).
– Onion and garlic powder: substitute with more of the other.
– Cumin: coriander, thyme or other dried herb (crush between fingers to make a bit powdery). - Flour (tiny amount) – I know it’s one extra thing, but it’s honestly worth it because it creates an awesome crust on the chicken. We just mix it with the spices then sprinkle on the chicken to coat it. We aren’t dredging separately!
- Butter – My cooking fat of choice. Because it’s tastier than oil, and it is what makes this simple recipe so good. I use it for cooking the chicken and making a quick pan sauce. You could also pan sear in olive oil, if you prefer, but stick with butter for the sauce.
Ingredients
CupsMetric
- ▢ 2 large chicken breasts (250 – 300g/8 – 10 oz each), each cut in half horizontally to form 4 steaks, no need to pound (Note 1)
- ▢ 20g/ 1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter or 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
SAVOURY SEASONED CRUST:
- ▢ 1 tsp paprika , regular/sweet (or smoky)
- ▢ 1/2 tsp onion powder (or more garlic)
- ▢ 1/2 tsp garlic powder (or more onion)
- ▢ 1/4 tsp cumin (sub coriander, thyme leaves crushed between fingers, or omit)
- ▢ 3/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (halve for table salt, +50% for flakes)
- ▢ 1/8 tsp black pepper
- ▢ 1 1/2 tbsp flour , plain/all-purpose, GF (Note 2)
BUTTER SAUCE:
- ▢ 1/3 cup dry white wine or chicken stock (low sodium), sub water (Note 3)
- ▢ 30g/ 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- ▢ 1 tbsp roughly chopped parsley , optional but recommended
Instructions
ABBREVIATED
- Dust chicken with Seasoning, pan fry in the butter, remove. Deglaze with wine, melt in butter, serve sauce on chicken.
FULL RECIPE
- Season – Mix the Seasoning ingredients in a bowl. Sprinkle on each side of the chicken, spreading with fingertips to coat evenly, then shake off excess.
- Sear – Melt the butter in a large non-stick pan over high heat. Cook chicken for 2 1/2 minutes on each side until deep golden, or until the internal temperature reaches 67C/153F. Remove onto a plate.
- Pan sauce – Lower then heat to medium high. Add the wine and simmer rapidly for 1 – 1 1/2 minutes, scraping the pan with a rubber spatula to loosen the golden bits into the sauce, until it’s reduced by half. Add the butter and let it melt, mixing well to combine. (Note 4 on sauce amount)
- Serve – Serve chicken with sauce and sprinkled with parsley. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes:
To double the recipe, use 2 separate pans, if you try to cook the chicken in 2 batches the precious fond in the pan will burn during the second batch (don’t even think about wiping that flavour away! 🙂 )
1. Chicken – This recipe will also work with boneless chicken thighs. Just increase the cooking time to cook the chicken through.
2. Flour creates a lovely light crispy crust and also creates a surface that the sauce clings to. Regular plain/all-purpose flour works best (gluten-free flour is fine too), or bread flour, self raising flour. Cornflour / cornstarch is a good substitute.
3. Wine – Any dry white wine is fine here, just avoid anything too sweet or too oaky. My default I always have on hand is Chardonnay. Don’t waste expensive wine on this, I get heavily discounted end of bin bottles.
Flat bubbles is also great – never waste leftover champers!
4. Sauce amount – There’s not a stack of sauce, which is the way it is with quick pan sauces like this. What it makes up for in volume you get in flavour. 🙂
Leftovers will keep for 3 days in the fridge, or freezer for 3 months (though not the best, chicken surface gets soggy).
Nutrition calculator is broken at the moment, will update when it’s up and running again!